Was it Worth it?
by Kipseyjewels
Summary: This is just my opinion of something bad that happened in the fire. Johnny doesn't die, and is actually hardly injured. May be TEARJERKER Sorry, please enjoy and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, I hope you review and enjoy my new story.**

 **The more you review, the more I update.**

 **Chapter 1**

Johnny POV

 _(This story takes place on the last night and morning while Ponyboy and Johnny were at the church, right before Dally turned up.)_

XXX

It was another night in the church. I didn't know it at the time, but Dally would come in the morning.

It was already dark outside, and I was sleepy. Ponyboy and I had been smoking a lot due to stress, and we were both doing right now.

We both got in our spot for the night, and I was about to fall asleep. One of the last things I remembered before we both fell asleep was, "Watch your smoke, Johnny."

XXX

Ponyboy and I were sleeping in the church, until Dally finally ended up coming there. It had been a whole week since we had last seen him.

He gave Ponyboy a note from his brother, Sodapop, and then we left the church.

Dally, Ponyboy, and I all went to Dairy Queen for lunch. Since Ponyboy and I hardly ate that much for the past week, we ate a lot, which amused Dally. That was usually rare to do.

After a while of talking at Dairy Queen, I decided that I wanted to turn myself in for Bob's death, but Dally was against it at first.

He talked about how bad of a place jail really was, and all of this other stuff.

He finally gave up, after a while, and we headed back to the church. It wasn't very far away, but to me the drive took forever.

We weren't very far away, when I started to see a cloud of smoke off in the distance. It only got bigger as we got closer. We got there, and I knew what it was.

It was the church.

As the car got closer, I could see what looked like small children, with a few adults that looked like teachers.

As soon as the car was stopped, or about to stop, Ponyboy jumped out of the back of the car. He just stood there for a few seconds, and looked between the kids, teachers, and the church.

I could make out a few of the words that one of the teachers were saying.

I knew that some of the children were inside the church.

Apparently Ponyboy knew this too, because he had started sprinting towards the church. The entire time, Dally was yelling at him to get back into the car, but he wouldn't listen.

All of a sudden, I felt the urge to help. I jumped out of the car and followed Ponyboy into the church, with Dally yelling out our names the whole time.

We would both regret not listening to him later.

XXX

Dally POV

They ran into the church.

They actually did it.

I felt like swearing. I was so angry, and yet so worried, which was rare for me.

I felt so upset, but I made the decision to help them in the fire. I didn't want to go into the church, so I thought that I would help get the children out.

I got out of the car and ran to the side of the church. I heard children screaming, and ran to the closest window. It was open. I stuck my head in the window, and yelled out, "Ponyboy, Johnny!"

I heard Johnny yell, "Hey Dally!" They were close. That was good. I saw them walking towards me in the smoke, and they both had one child each.

They handed me the kids, and I set them outside the window as they disappeared again to go and get some more kids.

They kept coming back with more kids, and disappearing again. After a while, I saw them coming towards me with no more kids, first Johnny, with Ponyboy right behind him.

They both stopped in their tracks when they heard a weird sound. I heard it too. I looked up. I freaked out at what I saw.

I screamed, "Get out of there, now!"

The roof was slowly starting to cave in.

 **Okay so, for now this is chapter 1. Please enjoy.**

 **The more reviews, the more story.**

 **I am aiming for 10 reviews or more.**

 **Review, and Stay Gold**


	2. Chapter 2 Collapse

**Please review, Chapter 2**

Ponyboy POV

Once we were sure that all of the children were out of the church, we made our way back over towards Dally. Johnny was ahead of me, and I don't know why, but he was kind of going slow.

I just guessed that it was do to all of the wood, debris, and flames on the ground.

The window was slowly getting closer. My lungs burned. They were filled with smoke, and I felt like I was about to pass out due to lack of air.

I heard a weird crackling noise, and looked at where it came from, which was up. I heard Dally scream, "Get out of there, now!"

I saw the roof, slowly creeping down. Johnny was still looking up when I looked at him. He had one emotion in his eyes, fear.

I didn't mean to be so harsh, but I didn't want to pass out right here and right now, so I shouted at Johnny, "Go!"

He was snapped out of his daze.

He was slowly going toward the window again, but I was about to pass out. With all of my remaining strength, I gave Johnny a shove to the window. I landed on my stomach, because the shove that I had given Johnny took away a lot of my spare strength.

I saw Johnny run into the window sill. It hit his stomach by the looks of it, but I also saw strong arms lift him up out of the window.

I didn't blame Johnny for not helping me up, because I knew that he didn't know that I had ever fallen down. He was going to make it out. That was good.

I knew that Dally was the one that had lifted him out of there. He was safe now, and so we're the kids. That was what mattered to me.

I was glad that everyone else was going to make it out, but I didn't want to die without a goodbye, if I did die.

I shouted out, "Help!" But I got no response... At least not one that I knew of, because I didn't really pay attention, and I was just so tired due to lack of air.

I let go of all the energy that I was holding on to, and passed out, just as I heard a loud _crack_.

Johnny POV

We were walking towards Dallas, and I heard a cracking noise. I looked up, terrified as I saw part of the roof sagging down. I was terrified.

I was snapped out of my daze by Ponyboy yelling at me, "Go!"

I felt him giving me a little push, and didn't feel him behind me anymore. I thought that maybe I was just going to slow, and so he went the other way out of the church. Maybe he went the way we came in.

I was too frightened to look behind me. Maybe I'd trip on debris, or maybe I was imagining it. Maybe I was to freaked out, and he was behind me.

I didn't know, so I just kept going.

His little push made me hurry up a bit, and my stomach hit the window sill, knocking whatever air that was in my lungs out.

I felt arms pull me out of the window, and I slowly stood up, still trying to get air back into my lungs. I knew that the arms belonged to Dally.

He supported my weight as I slowly got my breath back, and pulled me up so I was standing on my own to feet.

Ponyboy still hadn't come out of the window, so I thought that he had gone a different way. But, he never came from the side of the church either...

I started to get worried. Where was he? I was about to go back in through the window, when Dally grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him.

His back was to the church, and I was facing him.

He looked me in the eyes and said, "Are you alright, Johnny?"

I looked at him and avoided eye contact. The only thing on my mind was Ponyboy. Why hasn't he come back yet?

I made eye contact with him, and was about to answer him, when I heard a load _crack_.

I looked in the window, when I heard someone scream, "Help!"

What was it? Then it dawned on me.

Ponyboy!

I was about to shout out his name, but it was to late.

The roof had already collapsed.

 **Okay, so here is chapter 2. Lol sorry if it seemed rushed, I wrote it at 12:42 is the morning.**

 **Please review, and tell me how it's good and bad.**


	3. Chapter 3 Found Him

**None of these characters are mine. They are all S. E .Hinton's.**

 **Review**

 **Chapter 3**

Dally POV

Johnny was heading toward the window, but I didn't want him going back in there. I grabbed his arm and spun him around so that he was facing me now.

I looked him in the eyes and said, "Are you alright, Johnny?"

He made eye contact with me, then glanced at the window. I heard someone scream, "Help!" At the same time I heard a loud _crack_. I whipped around to stare at the church. It was about to collapse.

Oh...no. Where was Ponyboy? Johnny gasped, as the roof collapsed.

I looked at Johnny, who was now wide-eyed, and said, "Johnny? Where is Ponyboy?!"

He looked like a deer in headlights, and said, "I t-think he's i-in there, Dally!"

I knew that he was.

I knew that he was the one who had screamed.

I started to freak out. I let go of Johnny's arm and ran to the window. I looked inside. There was nothing I could see but flames and wood.

"Ponyboy!" I shouted, but I got no response.

"Oh, shoot." I whispered to myself. I found an opening in the debris and crawled through it. I searched around. I went a little farther, around the spot where I had last seen him walking, and looked around some more.

It was so hot in here, with so much smoke.

I moved around some of the pieces of wood that didn't have any flames on them, and made another small pathway.

I kept screaming out his name, but got no response.

I went through more debris, before something caught my eye. My heart sank in my chest. It felt like it skipped a beat.

A few feet in front of me, I saw a pile of wood, and what looked like someone underneath it, laying on their stomach. Their mid-back and up was sticking out of the pile of wood. I recognized that person immedietly.

It was Ponyboy.

He was laying perfectly still, his eyes were closed, and he was pale, and covered with ash.

I had to admit, that at least one time, right there, in my life, I was terrified.

I quickly bent down and got to work. I started picking up peices of wood that weren't on fire off of him, until his head down to his lower back we're no longer covered with any wood.

I took him by the part of his arm by his arm pits, and slowly slide him out from under the debris. He was perfectly still and limp.

I got really worried.

"Come'on, kid." I whispered to him, knowing that he couldn't hear me.

I slowly turned him so that he was laying on his back, slid one arm under his legs, and the other one, very carefully, under his back.

I slowly lifted him up, and walked towards the window. He never moved in my arms. I got both of us out of the window, and went over by Johnny.

I looked at Ponyboy. He was still covered in ash, but very pale... And very still.

Having a bad feeling, I had stopped walking for a second, and I noticed something. It looked like he wasn't breathing.

I screamed at Johnny, "Go get help!"

He nodded and hurried off.

When I got a good distance away from the fire, I gently laid him on the ground. I checked his neck and wrist for a pulse.

I didn't find one.

 **Hey guys. It is 2:03 in the morning, same night as when I wrote chapter 2, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **I thing I might be done for tonight. If so, good night guys. See ya tomorrow when I update, most likely.**

 **Sorry it was so short.**

 **You review. I update.**

 **Deal?**

 **I am a little mad at my phone. I wrote chapter 2 and 3 early today, and chapter 4 was supposed to be done a while ago. But there is an error, and I am so sorry that I can't continue.**

 **Once I am on my laptop, which should be in a few days, I will continue.**

 **That is, if the error on my phone doesnt go away.**

 **If it goes away I will gladly continue very soon.**

 **Review**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Johnny POV

"Go get help!"

Dally had yelled at me.

I nodded and ran off. I looked back and saw that he was checking Ponyboy to see if he had a pulse.

His face looked terrified. I knew he didn't find one. I faced the front again as my eyes started to water.

I was sprinting, but I wasn't very sure I knew where I was going.

I had so much on my mind, like how could this happen? Why didn't I look and

see him not behind me? Is my best friend dead?ny other thoughts and questions went through my head.

The main one was, 'Is my best friend dead?'

I saw a house up ahead and I sprinted towards it. I got there and banged on the door.

I was crying by now.

A lady that looked about in her 30's opened up and I asked her if I could borrow a phone.

"What happened?" She asked. She probably saw that I was crying.

I responded with, "I need an ambulance! My friend was in a fire, and I-I need an ambulance!"

I shouted out the last part.

"Oh my gosh!" she blurted out.

She looked full of fear, and asked, "Is he alright?!"

I shook my head and she ran into the house. I looked through the door and saw her quickly dialling a number.

She started talking to someone, but I wasn't paying much attention.

The only word I heard the whole time was ambulance.

I had so many thoughts in my head, but they all boiled down to one.

Was Ponyboy going to die? Or did he already?

Dally POV

I checked for a pulse. I didn't find one. I didn't really know how to feel.

I felt angry that he had gone into the church, and I was angry that it was him who didn't get out.

Why couldn't it have been a kid? It was their fault that they were in the church, not his.

I was also worried. I didn't have a huge idea about what to do.

I didn't want him to die either!

That's weird for me. Usually I wouldn't really care, but I cared about him!

I mean, I had an idea of what to do, I just never really did it before.

Nor did I have to.

So I tried.

I firmly and gently (very gently, for Dally) placed my hands on his chest.

I pushed on his chest in a steady but firm pace.

I tried to get a heartbeat.

It didn't do any good.

I knew he couldn't hear me, but I started saying, "Come on, don't die! Please don't die on me Ponyboy!"

For the first time in forever, I was very sad and upset.

"Don't go…" I whispered, near tears.

I don't exactly know what to do when someone's heart stops, due to smoke. I know that you do that when someone drowns, or to try to get a pulse back, so that's why I tried it.

It did no good.

What do you really do when someone's heart stops due to lack of air?

The entire time, he never moved. He was still very pale, he wasn't breathing, and had no pulse.

I knew that by now, he had to be long gone. I had a feeling that once an ambulance came and took him, there was a chance that I would never see him again. It wouldn't be necessary.

Not if he weren't alive.

I heard sirens in the distance.

I'm not a very emotional person, but today I am.

While I waited for the ambulance to come, I did something that I wanted to do before I missed my chance

I hugged him.

And I broke. I let my emotion get the best of me, as I let my greif go.

The ambulance finally got there. They put him in it, and a few minutes after they had arrived, they were gone again.

Then I saw Johnny running towards me from the same way he had left.

Johnny POV

That lady seemed really nice.

She hung up the phone and quickly walked back to me.

"An ambulance is on it's way. What happened?"

She sounded worried, and it dawned on me that not all people are careless.

I wanted to tell her, but I was in a hurry.

"Could I tell you later? I need to hurry up."

She looked me in the eyes and nodded. I turned around and sprinted towards the church.

XXX

I finally got there, and I found Dally. It was a horrible sight.

Dally never cried, but here he was. He had tears running down his face.

My heart sank. Something bad had happened, and I think I knew what it was.

I hugged Dally as I heard footsteps behind me.

XXX

Johnny came over and gave me a hug. This was the first time in years that I had cried, but I had a good reason too.

One of my closest friends just died, and I had to break the news to my other friend, Johnny.

I heard more footsteps. I looked over and saw a woman. She looked at Johnny and looked sad.

I looked at Johnny also and said, "Johnny?"

He looked at me and said, "She called 911."

I nodded. She wasn't here to cause harm, and that was good.

She looked at me and asked, "What happened?"

I answered with, "The church caught fire. I'll explain it later in more detail. Right now we got to get to the hospital."

She nodded and said, "Need a ride?"

We did need one, so I said yes, and the three of us hurried off, her in the lead.

XXX

We got to what looked like her house, and she told us to get into the truck in the driveway.

We did, and we were off.

XXX

Johnny POV

We got to the hospital, and the three of us went into the building. We all went and stayed in the waiting room.

Dally went outside for a smoke, and said that he would probably be out there for a while. He said that he would call the rest of the gang as well.

The lady started talking to me. At first, I was a bit nervous, but then I relaxed.

She held out her hand and started with, "Hi. I am Mrs. Kershell. Amy Kershell."

We shook hands.

"My name is Johnny Cade" I answered, and she nodded.

"Could you tell me more about what happened?" She asked.

I nodded slowly, and started.

I started with, "Well, my friends and I had come back from lunch when we saw smoke. We saw that the church was on fire, and pulled up and stopped."

I knew that I would have to stop a lot, because it is so hard for me to talk about my best friend, who might be dead right now, and I don't know.

I kept going.

"There were teachers and kids, and we knew that some of the kids were inside. My friend got out of the car, and ran into the church. I followed. Dally, our other friend, went to the outside of the window."

I sighed.

"We got all of the kids out, and my friend and I went towards the window. I was in front of him. We heard something, looked up,and saw the roof start to cave in. I felt him give me a little push towards the window, and… I just didn't feel him behind me anymore. I thought that maybe he had gone a different way out of the church."

I had to stop for a second before I could continue.

"I got out of the window, and went to Dally…"

She stopped me, and asked, "What is your other friends' name? And how long have you known each other? How old are you to?"

Those questions, weren't important, but I was glad to change subjects.

I paused, then said, "His name is Ponyboy. We have been friends for as long as I can remember… I'm 16, and he's 14."

She nodded. This was very hard for me. I felt like crying.

"Anyway," I continued, "I got out of the church, but I got worried. Ponyboy didn't come out of the window, or around the side of the church. I heard someone s-scream for help. It was Ponyboy. He wasn't on his way out, he was still in the church."

My eyes started to get watery at the memory of what had happened.

"I was about t-to go into the church, but the r-roof… Collapsed… Dally went in the window, and came back out a few minutes later, with Ponyboy…"

I had tears streaming down my face at this point. The image of a limp Ponyboy in Dally's arms will be in my mind for a while.

I finally finished with, "Dally screamed for me to get help, and I ran to you. You were the closest house in sight. I am so sorry if I bothered you…"

"No no no. Don't worry about it. It's fine. You didn't bother me."

I asked her, "If you are a Mrs, excuse me for asking, but where is your husband?"

She sighed, and said, "Well, he is out right now with some friends. I'm so sorry about your friend. I really hope that he is okay. I actually like the church where the fire was. That church was there since I was a little kid. In a way, I grew up there."

XXX

Some time went by. I was about to say something, when Dally, Two-bit, Steve, Darry, and Sodapop came in through the front doors.

They came over to us, and I saw that they all had some type of sad look in their eyes, mainly Darry.

"Hey." Sodapop said.

"Hey." I murmured.

Amy looked at me, and asked, "Who are they?"

I wiped the little bits of water from my eyes, and stood up.

"Guys," I started, "This is Amy. She called 911, and drove Dally and I to the hospital.

I looked at the guys, and said, "Amy, this is the rest of my gang."

I pointed to them when I called out there name.

"Of course, there is Dally, there's Two-bit, Steve, Darry, and Sodapop. Darry and Sodapop are Ponyboy's older brothers."

She nodded, and looked around at the gang.

"It's good to meet you guys." She said with a small smile.

They nodded at her, and turned their attention back to Dally and I, asking all of these questions.

I answered them the best I could, but the thought that I didn't know if my best friend was alive or not was really starting to bother me.

 **Hey, from what you read in chapter 3, I finally got my laptop. so i am able to continue, until I have to use my phone again.**

 **I didn't lose the laptop because I was in trouble, I was just busy.**

 **Please review...Or I might now update**


	5. Chapter 5

**Please review**

 **Chapter 5**

Sodapop POV

I was still curious about what had happened, so I asked. Johnny said that him and Ponyboy were in a fire at a church while trying to save little kids.

I knew that that was something that my younger brother would do.

The thing I didn't know at the time was the seriousness of the event. I would find that out very soon.

Amy seemed nice, though. She wasn't annoying when it came to questions, she was calm, and she was helpful.

She was also caring. She seemed like she cared a lot.

I heard a phone ringing, and looked around. Amy pulled out a phone, and said, "Excuse me, I have to take this."

We nodded and she walked a few feet away before answering.

I tried to make out some of the things she was saying, but my mind was wandering else where.

Her call didn't take very long. She came back over to us at the same time a nurse did.

Amy POV

We were sitting in silence, until my phone rang. I took it out, and it said that my husband was calling.

I looked at Soda, and said, "Excuse me, I have to take this."

They nodded, and I walked a few feet away, before answering.

"Hello?" I said.

He answered with, "Hey, Amy. The truck is gone. Are you out somewhere?"

"Yeah. I'm at the hospital."

He sounded worried, and said, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm here with a few boys that were involved in a fire."

He then sounded relieved, and said, "Okay. I'll be right there."

With that, we hung up.

I walked back over to the boys as a nurse did also.

The nurse came over and asked if they were the family of Ponyboy. Darry said that he was the guardian, and the nurse continued.

He said some things about 'fire' and 'burns' but I wasn't really paying that much attention. I wasn't sure why I wasn't listening.

I must have been to excited to hear the news, to even listen to it.

But there was one sentence that stood out from the others.

It was the one sentence I listened to.

It was the one sentence I paid attention to.

It was the nurse's words.

They kept echoing back and forth in my head.

 _"I'm sorry for your loss."_

When he said that I saw Soda, if I remembered his name right, fall to his knees.

Well, he was about to fall, but Darry caught him.

The other boys looked very sad. I looked at Johnny and noticed that he had tears coming down his face.

For he had just lost his best friend.

Soda and Darry had also lost a younger brother.

The next few minutes were silent, except for crying.

XXX

A few minutes later, my husband had come.

He walked over to me, looked at the gang, and had a concerned look on his face.

"What happened?" He asked me.

"Come over here and I'll tell you."

I led him a little ways away from the boys, and pointed at Darry and Soda.

"There was a fire... There youngest brother was involved."

He looked at me and said, "Is he okay?"

He sounded worried.

I looked at him and shook my head.

"They just found out that he... Didn't make it."

"How old was he?" He asked.

"He was only 14."

He looked sad, and asked, "Why were they in the fire?"

I just said, "There were little kids in the fire, and they must have ran inside."

He nodded and looked very sad. He just asked, "Do they have parents?"

I said, "I don't know, but I don't think so. I have a feeling that they would be here if they had parents. At least ones that cared."

I was near tears. I knew that I cared.

My husband started hugging me, and so I hugged him back.

He cared to.

 **Please review. I will write the next chapter, soon, but I am also working on other stories so I don't know when I will get around to it.**

 **I will try.**


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